Glad this is actually being talked about. I used to use Character ai daily since it came out. It was fun, it was like a toy, I could role-play plots that my friends didn't want to, and I could make bots for my own characters.
In the beginning, I didn't know that it was harmful to the environment, nor did I know that this ai trained itself by stealing from authors. When I did find out, I wanted to stop, but it was hard for all the reasons listed above, and words can't accurately describe how guilty and pathetic I felt for being unable to quit so easily.
I kept using it for months, secretly and guiltily, and I think knowing that my friend was also using it helped me feel less bad about it.
But she eventually did quit and she deleted her account. When I had sent her a screenshot from a bot I was using, she actually held me accountable and I FINALLY deleted it.
With Character ai gone from my phone, I was FINALLY, after months of not being able to produce anything, able to make art and write stories again. Ai had literally been so addicting, so time consuming, and so draining that it had been sucking up all my creativity, and I was finally able to create again.
I'm writing stories, I'm making art, I'm animating, and I'm engaging in real hobbies again. I'm actually sewing a baby blanket for my sister's new baby! I'm actually talking to people and making real friends, which is genuinely so sad and so depressing that that's actually an achievement today; To make real human friends instead of bots pretending to be friends.
And I 100% believe that it's actually addicting despite not being a substance, because I still get urges to go back to it. I haven't, and I never will, but those urges still hit me randomly, months later.
Despite not being a drug, it still absolutely just pumps dopamine into your brain and it makes you want to keep going to keep getting more and more of that happy reward chemical.
Am I embarrassed that I ever used it? Yes, absolutely. Do I still feel shame for ever downloading the app? Absolutely I do.
But it's gone now and I'm happy that it is. I'm actually moving on with my life, going outside, and engaging in real, productive, creative hobbies. I taught myself how to sew, I draw, and I'm planting vegetables and native wildflowers now.
To anyone else who previously used ai and was able to quit, I'm so so happy for you, and I hope you're doing well.
Fuck ai, protect the environment, and support real artists
titsay
vaporwave
snowghoul
blakekathryn
